ACE Leaders win $100,000 World Energy Prize

The Green Science Club at Bronx Design and Construction Academy (BDCA) was awarded the Zayed Foundation’s Future Energy Prize this week in Abu Dhabi for leading energy solutions at their school. The $100,000 prize is awarded to one high school in The Americas that exemplifies environmental stewardship and innovation. The Green Science Club won the prize for their Energy Environment Research Center (E2RC)-- a school-based project that will study the benefits of solar and wind energies.

Located in The Bronx, NY, BDCA is home to the first public school green roof in New York City and an epicenter of for solar research. BDCA’s green roof is fitted with solar panels that provide energy to their school, as well as data on humidity, temperature and insulation that is analyzed by the Green Science Club in collaboration with students and professors at Columbia University’s Green Roof Consortium. The Green Science Club’s research has provided data that has been instrumental in other youth leaders’ city-wide petition to install green roofs at all New York City public schools.

“We are deeply honored, grateful, and excited to be a recipient of the prestigious Zayed Future Energy Prize! Our students will build and maintain E2RC, and ensure this showcase of cutting-edge renewable energy systems is accessible at street-level for students, community members, and all of New York City to learn from. E2RC will help our future energy leaders of tomorrow identify and implement holistic, sustainable solutions to address local, national, and global environmental issues, “ said Nathaniel Wight, teacher and faculty sponsor of The Green Science Club.

BDCA has been active in the ACE network since 2010 after seeing the ACE assembly. In 2012, The Green Science Club (formerly Green Explosion) environmental club won regional first place in an ACE-sponsored energy competition for reducing their school’s energy consumption and saving hundreds of dollars.

The Zayed Foundation’s annual $4 million prize, established by the United Arab Emirates government, recognizes companies, organizations, schools and individuals across the world that have made significant contributions to the future of renewable energy and sustainability.